Former #1 Lindsay Davenport has backed Novak Djokovic following his altercation with Wimbledon crowd and called the Serbian as the greatest tennis player ever.
The American believes Djokovic has had enough of fans cheering against him as it is “not easy to always be the villain out there.”
After his R4 triumph against Dane Holger Rune at Wimbledon, Djokovic hit out segments of the Center Court crowd he felt had booed him.
“To all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a goooooooood night. Goooooood night, goooooood night. Very good night. Yeah,” declared the tennis legend.
“They were [disrespecting me], they were, they were. I don’t accept it. No no no. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo.
“Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. So trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works. It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s okay.
“I focus on the respectful people that have respect, that pay [for] the ticket to come and watch tonight, and love tennis and appreciate the players and the effort that the players put in here. I played in much more hostile environments, trust me… you guys can’t touch me.”
Djokovic is hunting for a record-equaling eighth Wimbledon title as he reached a record-extending 49th Grand Slam semi-final after Alex de Minaur pulled out of their last eight clash because of injury.
Talking on the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Davenport backed Djokovic after his clash with the crowd and argued the 24-time Grand Slam champion is treated harshly given everything he has achieved as a tennis legend.
“I think he’s just had enough, I think it’s not easy to always be the villain out there,” said the 3-time major champion.
“Obviously in the age of Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer], it just always seemed like the crowd was always against him. And not even against him, but like 90 to 95% for the other player.
“And I think he’s just tired of it. I think it’s not easy also when your kids are in the stands. I think also when you’re doing everything you can to still stay around in the sport, you do everything to help try and grow it.
“You’ve just had surgery, he’s out there, like really? He’s had it. Honestly, I don’t blame him and I think, you know, good for him. It’s just so odd because he does so much good as well off the court.
“And now it’s almost like, it seems like it’s cool to cheer against him or whatever, and it’s terrible. He’s done amazing things.
“He’s gonna go down statistically — whether people like it or not — as the greatest player who’s ever lived, male or female. It’s insane when you look at all of his numbers. I mean at 37 also, let’s give it up for him.”
Djokovic will take on Lorenzo Musetti in the semis and would meet the winner of Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev if he passed the Musetti test to reach his 10th Wimbledon final.